DIAMANT DEB

DIAMANT DEB is a tracked piece of space debris attributed to France, launched on 1967-02-15 from Hammaguir, Algeria on the Diademe D-1D launch. After more than 59 years in orbit, it is one of the longest-surviving objects in the space catalogue. It orbits in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at altitudes between 520 km and 1,006 km with an inclination of 38.9°. It travels at approximately 26,909 km/h (7.47 km/s), completing one full orbit every 100 minutes — that’s roughly 14.39 orbits per day. At its current altitude, the estimated orbital lifetime before atmospheric re-entry is ~25–100 years. As orbital debris, DIAMANT DEB poses a potential collision risk to operational satellites in nearby orbits and is continuously monitored by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network and other tracking systems.

DIAMANT DEB orbits at an average altitude of 763 km in the mid-LEO band, where atmospheric drag is minimal but radiation exposure remains manageable. Objects at this altitude persist for decades to centuries, making debris mitigation critical. This regime is popular for remote sensing constellations and scientific instruments that need stable, long-duration orbits. Within ±50 km of DIAMANT DEB’s average altitude, there are currently 425 active payloads and 2,231 tracked debris or rocket body fragments — notable neighbours include ONEWEB-0455. With an inclination of 38.9°, DIAMANT DEB passes over latitudes between 38.9°N and 38.9°S, covering the tropical and temperate zones where most of the world’s population resides. Low-to-mid inclination orbits are efficient to reach from equatorial and mid-latitude launch sites. France operates approximately 124 active satellites in total, of which 4 share a similar altitude band with DIAMANT DEB.